When working with sex workers, mental health professionals should provide affirming and validating health care that does not further perpetuate victimization. This brief report introduces a community and open studio approach to art therapy as a potential means of increasing mental health accessibility for sex workers. Based on two case studies,…

This article identifies the importance of art therapy integrating a sex-positive approach to support healthy sexuality and sexual well-being. It outlines the harmful impact of the sex-negative culture in the United States and defines a sex-positive social justice approach. Based on a review of relevant art therapy literature and the author's…

The Dual-Process Model of grieving suggests that oscillation between negative and positive emotions occurs throughout the grieving process. If either negative or positive emotions are overly emphasized the grieving process could be stymied. To determine how art therapy can support this model, this study evaluated changes in positive and negative…

Contributing factors to occurrences of workplace violence (WPV) vary based on the setting and clientele. While no workplace can be guaranteed free from potential violence, research shows that agencies and creative arts therapists (CATs) can use preventative measures to increase workplace safety. To illustrate the impact of WPV, three CATs share…

This viewpoint highlights the author's personal lived experiences of having her family home damaged during the catastrophic events of the 2022 Queensland floods in Australia. Art therapy Open studio practices facilitated within disaster management emphasize supporting recovery, building resilience, and offering emotional safety and containment.…

Art therapy group can facilitate professional and self advocacy efforts to increase awareness of eating disorders. Imagine Me Beyond What You See art competition was the catalyst for the development of an art therapy group to raise awareness for eating disorders and body image by reimagining a mannequin. Participant testimonials demonstrate how…

The international Hearing Voices Movement (HVM) offers a service-user generated approach to those who hear voices that encourages them to pay attention to their voices and their significance. Art therapists have been working with people with psychosis-related diagnoses for decades but there is little written on integrating the HVM framework.…

The Ulman Personality Assessment Procedure (UPAP) is a historical art therapy tool based on a series of experiential directives that consists of 4 drawings completed in a single session. The UPAP provides multiple ways of viewing a client's psychological state and symbolic expression. Despite its often marginalized and seemingly antiquated…

The academic journey to become a professional counselor can be challenging for counselors-in-training (CIT), adversely affecting their physical health, mental health, and wellness. Counselor educators (CE) have recognized a need for wellness training and interventions to assist CIT during graduate school and to prepare them for their careers.…

This study investigated art therapy-based self-help online tasks (ATB-SHOT) as a means to support university students during the COVID-19 lockdown by (a) measuring effectiveness on mood repair (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Self-Assessment Manikin scales, pre- and postintervention) and (b) correlating outcomes with participants'…

Creativity emerges in all walks of life and disciplines, requiring diverse approaches and ways of thinking. This article series has taken a wide view to exploring creativity through interviews with experts in different fields (Keenan-Lechel and Henriksen 2019). Beyond disciplinary diversity, it is valuable to think broadly about the types of…

Making images is an essential part of how art therapists learn about clients and explore new ideas. This same process can inform how art therapy researchers first engage with areas of interest for studies. A pre-research sketchbook or journal can guide the inquiry as a step prior to the literature review. This article reviews a creative…

This study explores teachers' perspectives on mandala coloring as a therapeutic tool for middle grades students with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the research first conducted qualitative interviews with ten experienced teachers, followed by teachers' quantitative assessments of 60…

Purpose: Anxiety disorders are a common mental health problem on college campuses. Underused creative programs offer intrinsic value to the successful integration of college students. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of the use of building block therapy (LEGO® ) in stress management/reduction in comparison to traditional art…

Arts-based assessment is an objective measure that incorporates artistic experience or artistic materials into the assessment process and enables to get unique contributions about pupils. The current survey focused on arts-based assessment in the Czech Republic to explore the following issues: how did arts therapists assess suitability of therapy…